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Modelling albedo in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet

Rasmussen, Marie LU (2014) FYSK01 20141
Department of Physics
Combustion Physics
Abstract
Abstract

An ice sheet always experience more or less melting during the summer. How much melting that occurs, is mostly determined by the albedo. Albedo is defined as the amount of the incoming shortwave radiation that gets reflected by a surface. When the sunlight starts melting the ice and snow in the summer, the albedo gets lower. The lower albedo itself causes more absorption of radiation, which makes the melting increase even more. Measuring the albedo on an ice sheet can be tricky. Therefore, a climate model is often used.
In this study the albedo parameterization for the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet in the model HIRHAM5 was improved, by using equations by Essery and Oerlemans & Knap. From the beginning the albedo in... (More)
Abstract

An ice sheet always experience more or less melting during the summer. How much melting that occurs, is mostly determined by the albedo. Albedo is defined as the amount of the incoming shortwave radiation that gets reflected by a surface. When the sunlight starts melting the ice and snow in the summer, the albedo gets lower. The lower albedo itself causes more absorption of radiation, which makes the melting increase even more. Measuring the albedo on an ice sheet can be tricky. Therefore, a climate model is often used.
In this study the albedo parameterization for the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet in the model HIRHAM5 was improved, by using equations by Essery and Oerlemans & Knap. From the beginning the albedo in the model only depended on the temperature. Things like precipitation and snowmelt were included in the new model. The parameters for the albedo were investigated to get as good results as possible. The new model showed sharper and more detailed results than the original, which were smoother. The results collaborate well with the usual weather phenomena in Greenland, and should therefore be possible to use for studies of the relationship between the albedo and the melting. (Less)
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author
Rasmussen, Marie LU
supervisor
organization
course
FYSK01 20141
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
albedo, Greenland
language
English
id
4467540
date added to LUP
2014-07-04 09:47:25
date last changed
2014-10-22 10:03:08
@misc{4467540,
  abstract     = {{Abstract

An ice sheet always experience more or less melting during the summer. How much melting that occurs, is mostly determined by the albedo. Albedo is defined as the amount of the incoming shortwave radiation that gets reflected by a surface. When the sunlight starts melting the ice and snow in the summer, the albedo gets lower. The lower albedo itself causes more absorption of radiation, which makes the melting increase even more. Measuring the albedo on an ice sheet can be tricky. Therefore, a climate model is often used. 
In this study the albedo parameterization for the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet in the model HIRHAM5 was improved, by using equations by Essery and Oerlemans & Knap. From the beginning the albedo in the model only depended on the temperature. Things like precipitation and snowmelt were included in the new model. The parameters for the albedo were investigated to get as good results as possible. The new model showed sharper and more detailed results than the original, which were smoother. The results collaborate well with the usual weather phenomena in Greenland, and should therefore be possible to use for studies of the relationship between the albedo and the melting.}},
  author       = {{Rasmussen, Marie}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Modelling albedo in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}